It is unknown if and when the deal between Google and YouTube will be made

The Wall Street Journal has published a
report that claims Google is in negotiations to buy YouTube for an
undisclosed amount – some speculation has the price tag on the site
at more than $1.6 billion. A source familiar with the talks also
said that the current negotiations are at a “sensitive” stage and
could be halted or setback at any given moment.

While better technology allows larger
frames, higher frame rates and better resolutions, the acquisition
would make sense from a Google standpoint. YouTube's audience mixed
with Google's ability to market ads could put Google in a nice
position in the emerging market for video advertising. As of
September 30, YouTube has almost half of the online video search
market – serving more than 100 million videos per day.

The deal would, however, have some
downsides for Google. The first problem the company would have to
deal with is that YouTube has been facing pressure to clean up
blatant copyright infringement by its users. Universal Music, for
example, has claimed that YouTube owes the company “millions”
because of infringement.

A number of companies have been trying
to woo the YouTube co-founders into selling the company. Viacom,
which offered $750 million for Facebook last year, may have also
offered to purchase YouTube. Micorosft, Yahoo and the News
Corporation have also shown previous interest in YouTube.